1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental polishing cups and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a cup having spiral ridges or grooves designed to tend to force the polishing compound inwardly toward the center thereof.
2. History of the Prior Art
For many years, dentists have been using various sized and shaped rubber cups for rotatingly applying polishing compound to teeth as a part of the typical teeth cleaning operation to remove plaque and stain build up.
The cups are generally of a truncated conical shape or a bell shape having an open cavity portion in the larger end of the cup.
Many of the cups presently in use have vanes or protrusions within the cavity thereof in an attempt to effect greater surface area contact between the cup and the tooth being polished for more efficient cleaning and polishing.
When the cup is pressed into contact with the teeth, the flexibility of the outer skirt of the cup causes the cup to flare out and flatten against the teeth and when rotated a large portion of the polishing compound that has been placed inside the cup spins outwardly away from the cup and is lost without ever having served its function as an abrasive compound on the outer surface of the tooth.
The waste of the material due to the loss of this compound is not nearly so significant as the loss in time since the cup quickly runs out of the polishing compound and must be refilled again.
There have been attempts to provide devices for the polishing of teeth wherein the compound is fed through an introduction port in the center of the cup into the cavity of the cup. While this prevents the loss of time in having to refill the cup constantly, it does not prevent the waste of material and causes the cartridge carrying the supply of the compound to have to be rather large and bulky.
Hence, the cups that are presently on the market, while possibly being efficient in the cleaning process itself are grossly inefficient in the use of the cleaning and polishing compound.